- Date
- February 4, 2026, 20:45 local (Feb 5, 2026, 03:45 UTC)
- Place
- Libby, MT · Helipad- Cabinet Peaks Medical Center
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N407VSBell Helicopter Textron Canada BHT407
- Defining event
- Landing: Collision during takeoff/land
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Status
- Completed · report April 30, 2026
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20260204001269A
- Case key
- 202398
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from a light post during landing.
Findings · 4
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot was conducting a routine positioning flight to a hospital helipad; a procedure he had performed multiple times previously. While maneuvering to land, he thought he was lower than normal and continued to maneuver for the landing. During the landing flare, the pilot heard a loud noise and felt a vibration but landed uneventfully. After the flight, the pilot discovered that the tail rotor had contacted a helipad light post during the landing sequence, which resulted in substantial damage to the tailboom and tail rotor. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N407VS
- Reported as
- Bell Helicopter Textron Canada BHT407
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 54667
- Built
- 2017
- Airframe hours
- 2,912.4
- Engine
- Allison/Rolls Royce 250-C47B/8, 650 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Positioning · Part 135
- Operator
- A L E R T Kalispell Regional Medical Center Inc, doing business as Logan Health
- Registered owner
- Kalispell Regional Medical Center
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- MT28 · Kalispell, MT
- Destination
- None · Libby, MT
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
- Airport
- None · Cabinet Peaks Medical Center
- Equipment
- Electronic flight bag or handheld device, Auto-pilot, ADS-B, Satellite tracking device, Electronic primary flight display
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew · 3
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 60
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight instructor
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- March 19, 2025
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 7,327 total · 2,400 in this make and model · 6,365 as pilot in command · 28 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Other flight crew
- Injuries
- None
- Seat
- Rear
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Role
- Other flight crew
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Remote
- Seat
- Rear
- Restraint
- 3-point
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 36 °F, dew point 36 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.42 inHg
- Observed at
- 65S, 36 nm away
- METAR
- METAR K65S 050435Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR 02/02 A3042 RMK AO2
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 30, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 5.3 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.